Irons Lends His Voice To Saint-Saens' Animals
by Christy Papadopoulou, Athens News
September 20, 2002
The French composer's popular masterpiece to be performed at the Irodion will raise funds for child Aids victims in Africa
DATELINE - ATHENS
OSCAR-WINNING actor Jeremy Irons will hold the role of the narrator in a one-off performance of Camille Saint-Saens' Le Carnival des Animaux to be staged at the ancient theatre of Irodion on September 29.
The much-anticipated production - a hybrid of music, theatre and dance spiced up with generous doses of humour - bears the signature of cutting-edge director/Technohoros founder Yiannis Kakleas. Proceeds will go towards the construction of an orphanage for African children, victims of Aids, to be completed by 2003 in the Ivory Coast
"Ten times more people die of Aids than of war each year. Every eleven seconds a person dies from the virus. But despite the destruction there is still hope," offered Ivory Coast Consul Mero Kesesioglou speaking of this cultural event's fundraising aims during a recent press conference.
Organised by the Synthesis non-profit cultural company in collaboration with the Ivory Coast Consulate and held under the auspices of the Greek Culture Ministry and the US, Iron's Irodion appearance comes a day after the Athens Festival's finale with a theatrical and musical performance recreating the magic of the land of the rising sun.
Saint-Saens' popular work, commenting on the relationship between musical instruments and the animal kingdom, will be performed by the Orchestra of Patras (formerly Soloists of Patras), an orchestra of strings founded in 1991. Piano duet Christos Papayeorgiou and Yiorgos Petrou also features. Saulius Sondeckis will be at the podium.
Stepping on stage for a quarter of an hour during the show's second part - the first part consists exclusively of music - the British film and theatre actor who found international recognition with his role in the TV adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited, will interpret excerpts from Ogden Nash's original text.
"Our aim was to incorporate Greek elements into the production" offered Kakleas whose impressive background consists of 45 productions including his Irodion staging of Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida almost a decade ago.
"In this spirit Ivory's spoken word - in English - will be complemented with dancing by two Kinitiras troupe performers in a choreography by Antigoni Gyra and the recital of Greek poetry - Cavafy, Embiricos, Roidis and Papantoniou - by six Technohoros actors," he explained. Supertitles (rendering the English text into Greek and vice versa) are set to prevent communication hurdles.
Irons whose latest endeavour is his participation in Franco Zefirelli's film Callas Forever, a tribute to prima donna Maria Callas, was bestowed with the New York Film Critics Circle's "Best Actor Award" for his interpretation in David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers. He has also received an Oscar for his performance in Reversal of Fortune next to Glenn Close.
* Camille Saint-Saens' 'Le Carnival des Animaux' will be performed at the Irodion Theatre on September 29. Performance time is 8.30pm. Tickets at 110, 65, 45, 35 and 22 euros are available from the Hellenic Festival box-office (39 Panepistimiou St, in the arcade, tel 010-322-1459), as well as Metropolis and Virgin record stores. Also from Ticket Hellas (tel 010-618-9300) with credit card